Rather than get into a protracted bidding war for Jarome Iginla, Pittsburgh chose to move former first-round pick Joe Morrow for Brenden Morrow, the Dallas Stars' former captain. Brenden Morrow, a 30-goal scorer as recently as 2010-11, has just six goals and 11 points in 29 games for the Stars this year. The 34-year old is known for his grit and compete level, but has settled into more of a third-line/support role over the last few seasons.

The Penguins probably value his experience and intangibles, but Morrow's underlying numbers aren't terribly encouraging. Among regular Dallas forwards this year, Morrow has the fourth-worst corsi rate (a stat that measures offensive zone possession at even strength) at -5.83/60 minutes of play. Morrow has been deployed in almost a pure "checking" role for the Stars in 2013, so he has largely played against other teams' top six players and started more shifts in the defensive zone.

His lackluster output and corsi numbers are understandable, though not overly admirable, when we consider his circumstances. For Pittsburgh, that means Morrow can ride shotgun with Brandon Sutter on the Penguins' third line or slide in as a support scorer with either Evgeni Malkin or Sidney Crosby. He won't provide the offensive punch of an Iginla in that role, but he was also a lot cheaper to acquire.

The decision to pick up Murray for two second-rounders (one on the condition Murray re-signs) is the bigger head-scratcher. A capable shutdown blueliner once upon a time, Murray has been in steep decline for several seasons, to the degree he was little more than a liability for the Sharks this season.

Murray, at 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds, is huge and is a handful along the boards, but is probably one of the slowest, least mobile players in the league and brings no offense to speak of. The Sharks were playing Murray against some of the easiest competition this year, but he was still spending more time than any other defender in the his own zone. Murray's corsi rate of -14.26/60 is terrible on its own, and far and away the worst in San Jose (Brad Stuart is second-worst at -6.01/60, but he faces the big guns every night). This isn't anything new for Murray, either—last year he was the only Shark defender underwater by this measure (-7.93/60).

The one area Murray might have some value is on the penalty kill, where being big and strong is often of greater importance. However, the erstwhile Shark is, at best, a third-pairing defenseman the coach has to actively shelter at even strength. Parting with one (and maybe two) second-round picks for a player who could actively hinder your club at five-on-five seems like a bad gamble.